I get asked this question a lot. \u00a0It makes me laugh because truthfully there is very little “technology” to an Open Space Technology meeting. \u00a0You just need some paper and markers and some tape and away you go. \u00a0In fact you don’t even need that.<\/p>\n
So why is it called “Technology?” \u00a0Well, I have known the story for a long time, but today I goaded my old friend Harrison Owen to tell it again, and he did, beautifully, on the OSLIST:<\/p>\n
It was 1989 in Bombay (now Mumbai). My friend and colleague, one V.S. Mahesh, a senior member of the Tata Administrative Service Corps, had invited me to do a series of lectures, in addition to an Open Space conference in Goa. How could I resist?<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of the several programs, Mahesh convened a press conference for the business reporters of India. This was rather a formal event, and in the way of such things in India, Mahesh\u2019s introduction of myself seemed to go on forever. He covered my CV in detail, including articles and activities I had forgotten, one of which was a review of a colleague\u2019s book entitled, \u201cGlobal Management Principles.\u201d This 725 page monster described the work of 4 management theorists under such headings as, \u201cPrimal Management,\u201d \u201cDevelopmental Management,\u201d \u2013 and last, \u00a0\u201cMetaphysical Management,\u201d \u00a0…and that was me.<\/p>\n
As Mahesh drew to a heart stopping close, he said… It is my pleasure to introduce Harrison Owen \u00a0… and Harrison will you please explain to the gentlemen of the press what you mean by Metaphysical Management and Open Space…Technology. And he sat down.<\/p>\n
I think I could have shot him. \u201cMetaphysical Management\u201d was the invention of a colleague. I think I know what he was getting at, but it surely would not have been my choice of wording. As for Open Space Technology, that was, I do believe, Mahesh\u2019s invention. \u201cOpen Space,\u201d I admit to… as for \u201cTechnology\u201d \u2013 I can only think that Mahesh got on a roll. \u201cMetaphysical Management\u201d was pretty cool. But \u201cOpen Space\u201d was a little weak. Needed a tweak. \u00a0\u201cTechnology\u201d might just make it into the titles of the next day\u2019s articles.<\/p>\n
Mahesh was right. The Press took the bait. And we have been stuck with it ever since.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s the story… as best as I can tell it. But I think there is a moral. If we ever take what we are doing too seriously, we are definitely in trouble. What we \u201cdo\u201d is really a joke. Truthfully, it all happens by itself. We just take naps… if we are smart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So that’s the answer. \u00a0And like all good Harrison Owen stories, it comes with a bit of self-deprecating humour and some very good advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I get asked this question a lot. \u00a0It makes me laugh because truthfully there is very little “technology” to an Open Space Technology meeting. \u00a0You just need some paper and markers and some tape and away you go. \u00a0In fact you don’t even need that. So why is it called “Technology?” \u00a0Well, I have known the story for a long time, but today I goaded my old friend Harrison Owen to tell it again, and he did, beautifully, on the OSLIST: It was 1989 in Bombay (now Mumbai). My friend and colleague, one V.S. Mahesh, a senior member of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-space"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piBp1-1fX","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4834,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4833\/revisions\/4834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chriscorrigan.com\/parkinglot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}